Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-11-24
TRAIN DISPATCHING.
A Position That Requires Men OF
Iron Nerve and Quick Brains.
The Awful Consequences Likely to Follow
. Single Mistake-A Thrilling Story
Told by a Commercial Trav-
eler.


Accident caused by an incompe-
tent train-dispatcher." remarked a
gentleman in an uptown hotel, as he
laid down a newspaper after reading
an account of a railroad collision.
people are beginning to realize the
fact that two trains can't pass each
other ON a single track" he remarked,
dryly.
The gentleman was superintendent
of Western railroad who had worked
his way up from telegraph operator,
for sixteen years in dis
patcher's position before superin-
tendency was awarded him. To cir
Gle of friends he spoke of the dangers
of travel and the duties of a train-dis-
patcher.
''Few people," he said, seven those
who travel continually. know the dan
ger that they are in while rushing
over mountains and through valleys
at the rate of forty miles an hour,
with trains in front of them, trains be-
hind them. passenger, freight, excur-
sion, construction, special and wild
trains, laundering along on the same
track. In the East. where nearly every
road is double-tracked, the danger is
materially diminished, but the great
network of roads that spreads like a
fisherman's net over the great West is
mostly single track. and requires men
of iron nerve and quick brains to ham
die the trains. One of our dispatch
ers virtually holds the lives of our pas
sengers at the ends of his fingers.
Suppose for moment dis
patcher should lose his head, what is
the result? An awful catastrophe.
But it is seldom, comparatively speak
ing, that an accident or collision &C.
ours. and for this we can thank the
lynN-eyed, quick-witted and nimble-
fingered man, who sits in his office
hundreds of miles away, and controls
the movements of his engineers and
conductors. by the aid of his servant,
electricity. Before him lies train.
sheet, divided into subdivisions, with
the names of each station, and a
column for each train. both east and
west-bound, entered thereon. When
a train leaves station. the operator
reports it to the dispatcher as arriving
and departing at whatever time il
may be, which is entered on the sheet.
Thus. by glancing at his train-sheet.
the dispatcher can tell where each
train is. There are roads where dis
patcher has charge of two freight
divisions of one hundred miles
each. On each division are thirty
trains each way, making one hundred
and twenty trains controlled by one
man. with. possibly, one assistant
1--WE will suppose that train is
late, and can net make its meeting
point. This is a time when the tele-
graph must s!raighten things out and
if not done well snarl of trains will
be the result Train 10 is behind
time, which happens from various
causes. The regular meeting point
with train is at A. Not being able
to make it. the dispatcher sends an or
der first to Train Z at C. The follow
ing is the generally-accepted style OF
m order:
To Conductor and Engineer No. &C: Hold ai
C until Train 10 arrives. Answer. w. VIC.
The operator at c then displays a
signal. a flag by day and lamp by
night that warns the conductor OF
Train not to pass C without ascer-
tanning what the signal is out for.
When the orders are delivered the con-
ductor and engineer sign them and
they are repeated to the dispatcher,
who. if they are correct. answers back
%. K The dispatcher then sends an
order to Train 10 as follows:
To Conductor and Engineer Train 10 A: Run
% c regardless OF Tran7. Answer. W. w. C.
"When this is signed. repeated and
o. KID the train pulls out and makes
the meeting point. We're it not fol-
this order the conductor would have to
run his train according to rule on the
back of the time-card. This rule is
that train not having the right OF
way must wait at its meeting poin,
thirty minutes for variation of watches,
and then it can proceed to it's mex,
meeting point The train having the
right of way also waits FIVE minutes
for variation Of watches. Trains are
classified. passenger trains having the
right of way over freights and the lat
ter over work trains.
This may look very simple. but
when you take into consideration that